Administration

James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa

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Stephen M. Lucas

Hospital Director

Stephen M. Lucas is the Director of one of the largest veterans’ healthcare systems in the nation, the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics.  He was appointed to this position on June 10, 2007.  The Tampa system is comprised of James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and associated outpatient clinics including a Nursing Home, a New Port Richey Outpatient Clinic, and Community-Based Outpatient Clinics in Brooksville, Lakeland, and Zephyrhills, Florida.  JAHVH is affiliated with the University of South Florida College of Medicine and has a large, active research and education mission.

Mr. Lucas is a U.S. Navy veteran who was stationed on the USS Iwo Jima and served in the Vietnam Theater of Operations.  A seasoned leader, his career in healthcare spans more than a quarter century and includes significant experience in the private sector. 

Mr. Lucas came to Tampa from the Miami VA Medical Center and Clinics, a system serving approximately 285,000 veterans in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties.  His tenure as Director in that healthcare system began in September 2003 and under his leadership over the next several years, the Miami VA was the recipient of several national awards.  In 2005 and 2006, the Miami VAMC received the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs Robert W. Cary Performance Excellence Award for providing the highest quality care by an organization in the Department of Veterans Affairs.  In 2007, Mr. Lucas led the healthcare system on the journey to receive the prestigious Governor’s Sterling Award recognizing organizations and businesses in Florida that have successfully achieved performance superiority within their management and operations.  Mr. Lucas was also instrumental in the Miami VA receiving the Robert W. Cary Trophy award for “Best in VA” in 2007. 

In 2008, he was the recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives Federal Healthcare Leader of the Year Award.   

Before coming to the Miami VA, Mr. Lucas was the Director of the Dublin, Georgia VA Medical Center.  In November 2000, he was appointed Director at the VA Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He previously was named Medical Center Director at the Erie, Pennsylvania VA Medical Center in 1995.  And from 1989 to 1995, he served as the Associate Director at hospitals in Tomah, Wisconsin and Brooklyn, New York.

Mr. Lucas began his VA career in May 1974 as a vocational rehabilitation specialist at VA regional office in Pittsburgh. He was a staff assistant to the director at VA in St. Cloud, Minnesota; New York, New York; and Jackson, Mississippi.

Mr. Lucas has also had significant high-level experience in private sector healthcare. He was a senior hospital consultant with Sun Health, Inc. of Charlotte. While in this position, he was also director of management engineering at Madisonville Regional Health Center in Madisonville, Kentucky.  He also served in a similar capacity at Baton Rouge General Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  

Mr. Lucas earned his Master of Public Administration from Edinboro State University in 1978. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and holds a membership in the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

Dr. Edward P. Cutolo, Jr., M.D.

Chief of Staff

Edward P. Cutolo Jr., M.D., was named Chief of Staff of the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics, effective Nov. 12, 2006. As such, he has full operational responsibility for the Tampa VA’s clinical programs. He previously served as Associate Chairman and Associate Program Director for the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and currently holds the title of Associate Professor of Medicine. He is currently certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Dr. Cutolo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a member of a military family, Dr. Cutolo lived in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Louisiana, Venezuela as well as Argentina. The family eventually settled in Tampa, where he attended Jesuit High School and where his mother's family resides.

Dr. Cutolo received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from The John Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland in 1990. He went to Medical School at the University of South Florida where he also completed his internship and residency. After completing his residency in 1998, Dr. Cutolo joined JAHVH as the first Hospitalist. In January 2001, he was named Assistant Chief of the Medical Service, and in 2002 was appointed Chief of the Medical Service. He became the Acting Chief of Staff in February 2006 where he served until November of that year when he was appointed to his current position. Besides his administrative responsibilities, Dr. Cutolo continues to serve as an active Hospitalist on the staff.

Michael Jorge, Ph.D.

Associate Director

On April 27, 2008, Michael C. Jorge, Ph.D. was appointed as the Associate Director for the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital. Dr. Jorge's broad background as a VA hospital administrator, health systems specialist, staff psychologist and organizational development consultant, make him well suited to manage the operations of one of the largest VA healthcare systems in the country. As Associate Director, he is responsible for overseeing the operations of seven service lines and nearly 1,000 full-time employees. Services include Acquisition and Materiel Management, Business Office, the EEO Program, Facilities Management, Fiscal, Health Administration and Human Resources.

Dr. Jorge came to the Tampa VA as the hospital's first Assistant Director, a position he was appointed to on September 16, 2007. Previous to that, he served as Director of Health Services at Western Carolina University.

Before his position in academia, he was the Assistant Director for the Miami VA Healthcare system where he began his VA service as a psychology intern in 1991. In 1995, after two years as a Behavioral Medicine psychologist at the Miami VA, he transferred to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Outpatient Unit of the Brecksville, OH, VA Medical Center. In 2001, he accepted a position as a project manager at the Cleveland Employee Education System, where he was employed until 2003.

From 2003 to 2005, Dr. Jorge was a staff psychologist at the Veteran Health Administration's National Center for Organizational Development (NCOD), a recognized team of internal VHA consultants focused on improving the workplace climate. It was in 2003 that he was selected for VHA's Executive Career Field, enrolling in the Associate Director career track. In November 2005, he was named Assistant Director at the Miami VA.

Dr. Jorge holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Florida International University. He also earned a master's degree in Education and a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Miami.

Sandra K. Janzen, MS, RN, CNAA, BC

Associate Director, Patient Care/Nursing Services

Sandra K. Janzen, MS, RN, CNAA, BC, is the Associate Chief of Staff for Nursing at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, Florida, where she has served for over 19 years. She is responsible for approximately 1,200 employees in all health care settings at the Hospital, two nursing home care units, and several satellite and Community Based Outpatient Clinics across Central Florida.

She received her BSN from Winona State College, Winona, Minnesota, in 1971, her Masters in Public Health Nursing in 1976, and post master's specialist certification in nursing administration from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, and has taken doctoral classes at the University of Florida. Ms. Janzen's VA career spans nearly 30 years at six different medical centers. Additionally, she served as the Chief Nurse at two other VA facilities: Columbus, Ohio and Salt Lake City. It is notable, and to her credit, that she first became a Chief Nurse at the early age of 30.

Ms. Janzen actively supports innovative programming, research-based practice, and interdisciplinary functioning for nurses in an environment that promotes ethical standards, caring, and a spirit of inquiry. Under her leadership, the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital achieved recognition as a Magnet hospital in March of 2001, was re-designated a Magnet facility in 2005, and was awarded the inaugural Magnet Prize Award in 2003 for Exemplary Innovation in Patient Safety Research.

She has been recognized numerous times for her leadership at the national, state, network and local levels. In 2004, she was nationally recognized by then-VA Secretary Anthony J. Principi with the Secretary's Award for the advancement of nursing programs. Other awards/honors include:

Ms. Janzen is currently an Institute for Credentialing Innovation Consultant for the American Nurses Credentialing Center; she previously served as a Magnet appraiser. She sits on the Board of Nursing Spectrum, and is on the faculty of the University of South Florida's College of Nursing.

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